Working in Israel’s mission to the United Nations and listening to the Israelis and Palestinians bickering, complaining and trading insults, the Jewish Australian actor Jeremie Bracka suddenly envisioned Yasir Arafat and Shimon Peres in American-style couples therapy. Thus was born “Arafat in Therapy,” in which Bracka portrays 20 different characters, each with his — or her — own perspective on the peace process. The hour-long parody will be performed this weekend at the United Solo Festival in Midtown.

Art provides deeper, more complex pictures of social reality than statistics ever can. The Pew Research Center survey, which has occasioned much hand-wringing, found that a majority of American Jews, despite maintaining pride in their heritage, still marry non-Jews, eschew synagogue membership and perform few traditional Jewish rituals. For those seeking a more nuanced understanding of how disaffection from Jewish religion can coexist with a continuing attachment to Judaism, look no further than Joshua Harmon’s “Bad Jews.” Directed by Daniel Aukin, it is the absorbing, funny and heartbreaking play that is now running in an encore engagement at the Roundabout Theatre’s Laura Pels Theatre.

One of the most extraordinary women of our time, Dr. Ruth Westheimer almost single-handedly brought a frank discussion of sexuality to a society largely governed by Puritanical, and then Victorian, ideas about erotic pleasure. Now the compelling life history of the diminutive, German-accented powerhouse comes to the stage in Mark St. Germain’s one-woman show, “Becoming Dr. Ruth: The Unexpected Journey,” starring Debra Jo Rupp. The play, which is currently in previews, opens next week at the Westside Theatre in Midtown.

Growing up in Hamburg, Germany, in the 1980s, Lucie Pohl heard the term “Heil, Hitler” long before she knew what it meant; she thought it was a cheery, casual greeting. Her first solo show, “Hi, Hitler” is a comedic account of her chaotic upbringing as the daughter of two famous German theater artists, and her own subsequent journey to America. The hour-long show is being produced this month at a series of women’s theater festivals, with the remaining performances on Oct. 23 and 25.